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negativism

[neg-uh-ti-viz-uh m]
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noun
  1. a negative or pessimistic attitude.
  2. Psychology. a tendency to resist external commands, suggestions, or expectations, or internal stimuli, as hunger, by doing nothing or something contrary or unrelated to the stimulus.
  3. any system of negative philosophy, as agnosticism or skepticism.
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Origin of negativism

First recorded in 1815–25; negative + -ism
Related formsneg·a·tiv·ist, nounneg·a·tiv·is·tic, adjectivenon·neg·a·tiv·ism, nounnon·neg·a·tiv·is·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for negativism

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • This is an admission that negativism is of the nature of resistance.

  • The next of the cardinal symptoms to be considered is negativism.

    Benign Stupors

    August Hoch

  • The latter seems to indicate some connection between her negativism and death.

    Benign Stupors

    August Hoch

  • Negativism is a state, he says, of perseverated muscular tension.

    Benign Stupors

    August Hoch

  • A tendency opposite to the inactivity is seen in negativism.

    Benign Stupors

    August Hoch

British Dictionary definitions for negativism

negativism

noun
  1. a tendency to be or a state of being unconstructively critical
  2. any sceptical or derisive system of thought
  3. psychiatry refusal to do what is expected or suggested or the tendency to do the opposite
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Derived Formsnegativist, noun, adjectivenegativistic, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for negativism

n.

1824, "the policy of opposition;" see negative + -ism. In a psychological sense, it is attested from 1892.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
negativism in Medicine

negativism

(nĕg′ə-tĭ-vĭz′əm)
n.
  1. A tendency to do the opposite of what one is requested to do, or to resist stubbornly for no apparent reason.
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Related formsneg′a•tiv•ist n.neg′a•tiv•is′tic adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.